The Marlin jam.....

[W Turner]

I have a Marlin 1894 in .44mag that I bought over a year ago and have since put less than a hundred rounds thru, almost all of them Hornady or Mag-Tech factory rounds. When I bought it, I noticed that some of the screws in the receiver were buggered up so I knew she was no virgin and decided to shoot it 'til it malf'ed one me. No malfunctions, accurate, reliable, etc. since.

Last night I got the bright idea to find out if .44spl. rounds would at least cycle thru the action. I loaded it up with Blazer 200gr. .44spl.'s and when I worked the action, it locked up completely. The round was about halfway out of the feed tube and the lever was approxiamtely 75% of the way thru it's arc.

An hour later and after many cosultations with the diassembly instructions I had printed out off the net a few months ago, I was able to get the rifle unloaded and put back together. Once reassembled, I noticed that the loading gate is not in it's original position and is loose when the lever is in it's locked position. Everything else works fine and the action does not seem to be affected.

So a couple of questions...

1- Is this a common ocurrance with .44pl. ammo in general or a problem with Blazer specifically?
2-Is this the dreaded "Marlin jam" ?
3- Does anyone know any good levergun-smiths in the North Alabama area?

Thanks,
W

 

[larryw]

1. Must be a problem with the Blazer ammo; I've had no problems with other 44SP loads in mine (although I've never shot Blazer in mine).

2. No, that doesn't sound like the Marlin Jam, which is when the lever locks full open. See http://marauder13.homestead.com/Rifles.html and click on Marlin 94 Fix for details.

2a. Sounds like the loading gate's screw came loose and it was tightened up with the gate not against the locating pin.

3. Can't help you with the local smith part, but there is lots of good info on the site above that may negate the need for a smith.

 

[SASS#23149]

Most Marlins that I see jam at cas mathces are the result of a loose screw,and not always the same one.Marlins seem to be fit pretty finely,and if something is loose,it gums up the works until snugged down.
Cinch all up a bit and see if that helps.Just don't over do it.

 

[Winters]

Marlin Jam

sounds like a round got cought under the lifting lever.

To fix this disassemble remove the loading gate and put BLUE locktite on the screw that holds it in place..

Reassemble, it should be fine.

This would happen to mine every once in a while, easy fix.

Some of the older .44 do not load .44 special .

Winters

 

[twowheel]

I have the same Marlin model and with the lever in the closed and locked position, the lifting lever will flop up and down. If it doesn't, it means that there is something caught in it.

On several occasions I've seen people load marlins and push the last loaded cartridge in so far that is catches on a piece that holds the round after the current one being loaded from also coming out, thus creating a double feed situation. When loaded, you should see the last round (or next round to be fed) in the gap between the loading gate cover and the frame. With 44 spcl it may be possible to push a cartridge too far into the loading gate/magazine.

A fellow next to me at a range two weeks ago was new to lever actions and had a new Marlin 44 mag that he managed to jam in just the way I described. Fortunately, when he asked for help, I knew what was going on and had my tool box with me. After some disassembly, reassembly and a little explanation, the guy proceeded to shoot it all day.

BTW, I have 3 marlin levers and really like them all. They are all more accurate than they should be.